Chicago Teachers Union wants to meet with aldermen

Chicago Teachers Union officials want to make their case directly to aldermen to counter the blitz Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has undertaken to institute a longer school day.

Union president Karen Lewis sent out letters to aldermen Wednesday, inviting them to attend one of three private meetings at a Loop hotel Monday to “share our vision for Chicago’s public school educators and students.”

“In the wake of ongoing media attention and dueling sound bites, CTU has been working effortlessly to engage leaders, parents, educators and community partners in substantive conversations about the important issues at hand,” the letter reads.

Emanuel has made lengthening the school day at Chicago Public Schools a cornerstone of his first months in office. He got state lawmakers to approve a plan to allow additional time, and has pressed the teachers union — publicly and in private meetings with Lewis — to enact the change sooner than next school year.

When the union didn’t agree, district leadership reached out to teachers at individual schools to buy into the plan, and 13 schools have agreed to extend their days. Lewis has said that the union wants to make sure a longer day is “a better school day.”

The City Council approved a resolution earlier this month supporting a longer school day.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato, 36th, said it will be helpful for the teachers union to explain their position directly to him and his colleagues at the Monday meetings.

“I think teachers have gotten vilified lately,” said Sposato, a Chicago firefighter who supports a longer school day. “Somehow or another, things got twisted around about this.”

Ald. Timothy Cullerton, 38th, said a longer day is a good idea, but trying to implement it school-by-school is not the right way to go about it. “It’s just how we implement it and what we do with these extra minutes. . . .I don’t agree we should entice one school against another school,” Cullerton said.

The meetings also will touch on issues of school funding, teacher retention, merit pay and school violence, according to Lewis’ letter.

In addition, the union hopes to gain aldermanic support for two ordinances the union wants to get introduced to the City Council, spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said. One would declare a surplus in the tax increment financing districts that pull property tax revenue away from schools. The other would require vacant buildings near schools to have watchmen.